Years ago, Pink Jeep Tours, a Sedona, Arizona, company that
offers guided Jeep tours through nearby red-rock formations, booked
tours by entering basic customer information into a DOS-based
program and then scheduling and organizing tour lengths and party
sizes on magnetic boards. Unfortunately, if someone brushed up
against the boards, magnets would come tumbling off, tour guides
wouldn't have a clue which parties were scheduled when, and
chaos would ensue--that is, until the company installed a new
Windows-based reservation system that electronically schedules each
day's tours.

A retailer of fine wine, food and gift baskets with six
locations, Merchant of Vino Corp. juggles immense quantities of
inventory. The Southfield, Michigan-based company used to run out
of customers' favorite wines. But thanks to a new bar-coding
system and a customized software program to capture detailed
purchasing information, wine connoisseurs nearly always find what
they want.

The Las Vegas owner of Gotcha Covered Wholesale notices he's
spending far too much time re-entering invoices into his home
computer for products purchased right off his truck--and too little
time on the road getting orders for his cut flower business. The
solution? By using a laptop computer, he slashed his invoicing time
in half.

These are just a few examples of the small businesses reaping
the rewards of the technology revolution, from higher productivity
and improved customer service to increased sales, a better image
and greater professionalism.

Twenty years ago, far fewer technologies were available for
small businesses. And those that wanted technology had to pay
dearly for it. Today, however, most small-business owners
wouldn't dream of opening their doors without a computer,
voice-mail system and fax machine. Indeed, the last two decades
have seen a metamorphosis of the small business from a low-tech
enterprise into a lean, mean, high-tech machine--and the future
promises only more of the same.

Taking The High-Tech Road

Behind all the fancy packaging and snazzy sales pitches, what
most technologies promise small business is simply the ability to
get more work done in less time. In a 1996 study by KeyCorp, a
Cleveland-based banking firm, 45 percent of those surveyed said
technology has allowed their small businesses to perform faster and
more efficiently.

Pink Jeep Tours is a prime example of how a technology
investment can spur productivity. In the old days, its reservation
staff had to navigate software with multiple screens, entering
customer data with much difficulty, and tours were frequently
overbooked--and underbooked--because employees didn't schedule
them efficiently on the magnetic board. The new software installed
two years ago, which has a more user-friendly interface and
automatically schedules tours at maximum occupancies, has cut the
average time it takes to book a reservation from five minutes to
one. "We were able to drastically increase the efficiency and
accuracy of our bookings," says company president Shawn
Wendell.

Customer service is another area that benefits from technology.
By implementing a new voice-mail system, database or fax-back
service, small businesses can score big points in customer
satisfaction. "[Technology] has increased our customer service
tremendously because we don't run out of stock as often,"
says Merchant of Vino's president, Marc Jonna. "Our
customers are delighted because we're more in tune with their
buying habits."

Some technologies, particularly the Internet, have transformed
small businesses from local ventures into global operations. In
other instances, however, technology has had the opposite effect:
It's allowed businesses to stay small. Whether entrepreneurs
are doing the books themselves with accounting software or cutting
back on customer support staff, technology is playing a big part in
keeping the "small" in small business. "Technology
has helped me keep the quality and customer service high while
keeping my business small," marvels Gotcha Covered
Wholesale's co-owner Courtney Young, who has done it all
himself since 1992 with the help of a notebook computer, portable
printer, pager and cellular phone.

A less tangible--but important--impact is the creation of a more
nimble, competitive entrepreneur, thanks to recent advancements in
mobile technology. The introduction of portable computers, cellular
phones, pagers and, more recently, wireless communication has given
small companies greater freedom, flexibility and efficiency when on
the road, severing the cords that traditionally tied them to the
office.

Barriers Come Tumbling Down

Anyone who has invested time or money in technology has a horror
story or two to tell. Software wouldn't load correctly, costly
equipment had to be replaced six months later because it was
already outdated, employees couldn't get a grip on the
newfangled system--these are all frustrating side effects of the
growing presence of technology in business.

For cost-conscious entrepreneurs, the biggest downside
associated with technology is the high price tag. According to
KeyCorp's survey, 38 percent of the respondents said cost is a
barrier to technological advancement.

"The investment was much heavier than we anticipated,"
admits Pink Jeep's Wendell, who spent $200,000 in hardware and
software upgrades alone over the past two years. "We had to
rebudget our long-term expenses and really tighten our
belts."

Even so, Wendell, like a growing number of entrepreneurs,
understands the value technology brings to a business. "While
[small businesses] view cost as a barrier, many are realizing the
benefits they can get, and, in certain instances, they're able
to [bite the bullet] and pay for it," says Robert Straus, a
small-business analyst at IDC/Link, a technology research firm in
New York City.

Meanwhile, industry forces have made it easier for entrepreneurs
to open their wallets. Prices, particularly for personal computers,
have dropped dramatically, while performance has continued to
improve. As a result, says Straus, the payoffs have become much
more attractive for entrepreneurs than in years past.

Another common complaint is difficulty in learning to use the
high-tech equipment that's supposed to make life easier. About
23 percent of small-business owners surveyed by KeyCorp said
learning to use technology was a major problem. The trend toward
"plug and play" features, which promise to considerably
reduce setup time and offer more friendly interfaces, has quieted
some complaints. However, many say what's really making a
difference is the recent wave of small-business computers, servers
and software boasting few setup requirements, customized software,
and fewer bells and whistles than their corporate counterparts.
"Because products are being specifically designed for the
[small-business] segment, use is much greater than in the
past," says Straus.

The movement toward small-business technology has also aided
entrepreneurs in finding the exact technology they need--something
that was difficult for about 8 percent of KeyCorp's survey
respondents. Also easing the pain is the fact that, for many
high-tech buyers, it's not their first time around the
technological block. Says Straus, "Because [small businesses]
are going through the purchasing cycle for the second or third
time, they've gotten a lot smarter in acquiring
[technology]."

Look Into My Crystal Ball . . .

Joe Entrepreneur sits at his computer reading through the
day's e-mail. When he's done reading a message, he simply
waves his hand, and the software automatically scrolls down to the
next one. The phone rings. It's his accountant, and she wants
his latest financial information--right away. With a click of the
mouse, the entire month's finances are condensed into a
coherent, one-page summary that he fires off via e-mail. Then,
because he realizes it's just two days before his business
trip, Joe goes online with a high-speed ADSL connection, views a
hotel property, then books a reservation without leaving a credit
card number because his computer has the latest "smart
card" technology.

Welcome to the small business of the not-too-distant future.
These high-tech tools are just some of the exciting advances
industry insiders predict small businesses will be using in the
next three to five years. Many of the technologies are already
here; they're just being fine-tuned.

Central to these upcoming products, say technology executives,
are the enhancement and development of communications tools. As we
enter what some are calling the "era of communication,"
we will see not only the proliferation of technologies like desktop
videoconferencing, corporate Intranets, and paging and wireless
communications but also the emergence of new ways of interacting,
resulting from the merger of computing and communication.

Consequently, industry insiders believe small businesses can
expect to use more efficient communication channels, particularly
the Internet. "Clearly, the Internet is going to become more
pervasive in the next few years," says Jacques Clay, general
manager of Hewlett Packard's extended desktop business unit.
"Small businesses will use it to communicate with customers,
sell products via their Web pages, and create very targeted
advertising for local, regional or international
audiences."

Sam Jadallah, Microsoft's vice president of small and
medium-sized business sales and marketing, envisions enhanced
business-to-business communication as well. "Small businesses
will find suppliers on the Internet, bid for business or submit
offers to suppliers," he says. "There will be a huge
movement to empower [entrepreneurs] to communicate more
effectively."

Another trend, say experts, will be the development of smarter,
more intuitive software that interprets and reacts to body
language. They also anticipate the evolution of applications that
don't just store information but format and analyze it in a
fashion that's easier for small businesses to act on.

"The emphasis will be on turning information into knowledge
you can use," explains Richard LeFaivre, vice president of
Apple Computer's technology group. "That means software
will be able to analyze documents, do intelligent searches, extract
relevant information and simplify it. Future software growth will
be centered around knowledge manipulation and access
technologies."

Wave Of The Future

As we move into the next century, experts agree that technology
and small business will undoubtedly become synonymous. As more
entrepreneurs harness technology's power to lower costs,
increase productivity and level the playing field, there will be
far fewer technology have-nots and far more tech-savvy
entrepreneurs and employees. Consequently, the experts challenge
entrepreneurs to embrace technology, if they haven't already,
and to prepare for the future.

"Right now, there are 20th-century entrepreneurs and
21st-century entrepreneurs. It's a mind-set," says Daniel
Burrus, a technology forecaster and author of Technotrends: How
to Use Technology to Go Beyond Your Competition
(HarperBusiness). "Those becoming 21st-century entrepreneurs
are beginning to look at using technology to compete on a new plane
and to use the tools to change the rules of the game."

What technologies will prevail in the next 20 years, and how
will you be using them? Predicting what will be around is
anyone's guess because, in technology years, 20 years is an
eternity. However, industry experts offer these best guesses--and
far-out predictions--for technologies small business will use in
the year 2017.

Intelligent agents: These software programs can be set up
to retrieve detailed information or perform specific tasks
automatically. While you're tending to your business,
intelligent agents will be behind the scenes booking your airplane
flight, scanning articles for precise information or monitoring
changes in world oil prices.

Virtual reality: This includes both two-dimensional and
three-dimensional virtual reality experiences. A Web site could
contain your 3-D virtual store, which customers with computers,
virtual reality gloves and goggles could "enter."
Specialized software would simulate experiences as if customers
were walking around the store, picking up the merchandise and
sampling it.

Supercomputers: Expect very powerful computers that
handle virtual reality, text-to-speech capabilities (such as
turning a faxed document into a speech message retrieved via
telephone), and speech-to-text capabilities (such as dictating a
letter over the phone). Computers already in development have
rudimentary text-to-speech capabilities; in the near future, this
technology will become far more advanced.

Sophisticated presentation tools: Thin, flat-panel
displays similar to TV screens could be used to display
advertisements; holographic images could be projected in midair to
help an audience visualize your product.

Advanced expert systems: These software programs capture
people's expertise, convert it into a set of rules, and apply
those rules to problem solving. Industry experts could clone their
knowledge and make it available to others to solve dilemmas or
improve processes without an on-site consultant.

Of course, while these future technologies sound intriguing,
what's truly exciting are the changes they'll likely bring
to your business. Suffice it to say, technology companies, small
businesses and industry experts alike are bubbling over with
optimism about the benefits technology will bring down the road.
Perhaps Straus puts it best: "I'm bullish on technology
and all it will do for small business in the future."

How They Did It

Merchant of Vino Corp.

With its fully automated sales process, Merchant of Vino in
Southfield, Michigan, is the toast of the town. At each store
location, ergonomically designed customer checkout terminals reduce
cashier fatigue and provide better customer service, while its
managers' workstations contain powerful software to analyze the
sales performance of each product. The equipment lineup:

The Sedona, Arizona, company's employees have shifted into
high gear, thanks to a multiple-server system that allows for
faster communication among employees. A customized reservation
program captures all necessary tour information and alerts users if
expeditions are overbooked. Pink Jeep's equipment:

A true road warrior, Courtney Young practically runs his entire
Las Vegas flower business from his combination truck/trailer. When
clients page Young, he returns the call via cellular phone, pulls
up a custom-made template on his notebook computer, then faxes the
order to a supplier. Clients are also impressed with how Young can
furnish accurate (and legible) invoices on the spot. His
equipment: